Food Foraging Chicory
If you want to be one of the most loved people during a zombie invasion, you need to learn how to spot Chicory and spend some time planting it in local places. Think for a moment what the world will be like, zombies everywhere. The store shelves will be empty of coffee within three days, but Chicory make a great substitute. If you are the only person around who can find it for people, you will be one of the most popular people on earth!
Chicory started in Europe, but is now a common plant to be found in China, Australia, and North America. It is a perennial and is a member of the dandelion family. It grows from 10 to 40 inches tall. The flowers are usually blue or purple, but rarely they are white or pink. They average between ¼ to 1 ½ inches across. It is a perennial herb, but the branches die back each year and grow anew the next spring.
The leaves can be eaten as part of a salad or cooked like greens. The flowers can be eaten however, many people consider them too bitter to be worth the trouble.
In various places around the world it is often called achicoria, barbe de capucin, blue Sailors, blue saisy, cheveux de paysans, chicorée, chicorée amère, chicorée sauvage, cichorii herba, cichorium intybus, chicoree, cichorii radix, cikoria, cikorie, coffee chicory, coffee weed, common chicory root, ecoubette, hendibeh, herbe à café, hinduba, kasani, kasni, racine de chicorée commune, sikuri, succory, wegwarte, wild chicory, wild endive, wild succory, yeux de chat.
Chicory in the Wild versus farm grown
In the wild, chicory tends to be leggy with multiple flowers on each leg. It is mainly the lower leaves that are eaten, but the taste is best when they are young and they tend to get bitter as they mature. It likes open spaces and tends to grow in open fields.
When commercially grown for the greens and/or roots, they are rarely allowed to flower or go to seed. So, the plant is much closer to the ground.
Chicory Medicinal Uses
Historically Chicory has been used to rid farm animals of parasites. In humans it has been used as a general tonic and to treat arthritis, bruises, cancer, cuts, diabetes, diuretic, fever sores, gallstones, gastroenteritis, gout, kidney stones, liver disorders, nervous conditions, rapid heartbeat, and sinus problems.
Making Chicory Coffee
Dig the roots. Thoroughly wash them, then cut into small cubes. On a cookie sheet, place a layer of cubes and bake, shaking occasionally until they are hard and dark brown all the way through. They can then be ground and used like coffee grounds.
Seed Bombs
Chicory would make GREAT seed bombs if you have fallow fields nearby. Since the horse farm moved, the old pasture they let the horses run in has gone to seed with nothing but weeds. I think I will make some and start chicory growing there.
My other food foraging posts you might be interested in:
food foraging flowers you can eat
Pine Needle Tea
Borage
Cattails
Wild and Mock Strawberries
Seed Bombs
Clover
Fried Dandelion Flowers Recipe
Dandelions
Food Foraging 101 – part 1
Food Foraging 101 - part 2
Food Foraging 10 1- part 3
Sources:
Love your suggestion of making seed bombs as part of spreading love in the pre-preemption of (zombie) apocalypse! he he
Very interesting!! I think I may need to add this to my spring seed order! Thanks!
It would be a good one to add. I have not added it to this house yet, but plant to this spring.
I never once considered this plant (root) as an essential plant to have.. but you definitely changed my mind. AND brought it to my attention
Glad I could help!
I acquired some heirloom chicory seed last year, the packet illustration looks a little like cabbage... is that the same thing? And if I scattered it to let it 'go wild' would it reseed itself and become established?
see if it has a botanical name on it. There are different varieties being grown and there is at least 1 I know of that looks more like cabbage.
I don’t know if it’s the botanical name, Castelfranco. Maybe that’s just the variety?
That is the variety, but no problem. It is known for being one of the mildest of the radicchio varieties. Radicchio, endive and chicory are all the same family, can be cooked and eaten the same way, can be found in the wild (but the chicory varieties are the most common wild) but there are some differences in medicinal values.
It grows wild all over the place here. Unfortunately we also have tons of hemlock so I'm nervous about harvesting other roots. Chicory is not caffeinated, right?